WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--L’eggs Hosiery is partnering with “Operation: Deploy Your Dress” to support women in the military, military spouses, and their families.
Operation: Deploy Your Dress (ODYD) began as a kitchen conversation in Fort Bliss, Texas, in late 2015 between Army spouses about the expense of getting formalwear for military balls. The friends organized a dress swap among unit spouses. From there, the Operation: Deploy Your Dress founders built a nonprofit that provides formal attire to military families at no cost through eight "shops" on bases across America.
The grassroots organization is run by volunteers and depends entirely on donations. Operation: Deploy Your Dress collects new and gently-loved special occasion dresses, shoes, hosiery and accessories to give to servicemembers and their loved ones. During the past four years, Operation Deploy Your Dress has distributed more than 11,000 dresses free of charge to military spouses, daughters and female soldiers.
L'eggs Hosiery, an iconic brand owned by HanesBrands (NYSE: HBI), is perfectly suited to support the group’s mission.
"Service members and their families across the country make sacrifices every day for our nation," said Jill King, general manager of hosiery for HanesBrands. "Learning about Operation: Deploy Your Dress is simply inspiring. It isn’t just about a dress. It is about feeling amazing and the excitement of dressing up for such a special occasion. L’eggs is beyond honored to support women in the military and women who are part of military families by supporting this outstanding nonprofit."
L’eggs Hosiery's sponsorship includes supporting the launch of a new 2020 Operation: Deploy Your Dress shop, collecting dresses through a Hanes corporate dress drive, and donating sheer hosiery and tights to the organization’s eight current locations.
Partnering with L'eggs Hosiery gives Operation: Deploy Your Dress a chance to serve more military families by spreading the word about their mission and attracting more donations.
"L'eggs can help us share our main pillar of 'Deploying America's Patriotism One Dress At A Time' and gives civilians a tangible way to show their support," said Yvonne Coombes, the nonprofit’s co-founder. "Every dress we receive is like a hug from someone who appreciates the sacrifice our soldiers and families make on a daily basis. A dress may seem like a small thing, but traditions such as military balls are important in building camaraderie and esprit de corps, which translates into unit cohesion during deployment and at home. Young military families live on tight budgets and attending a ball is often not something they can easily afford."
Military members and spouses often share how much the free dress shops mean to them. One woman in Fort Bliss, Texas, wrote: "I just had a baby two months ago and there is a ball next week. I'm not very confident in my current body, nor have I been looking forward to the extra financial strain of buying a gown. As soon as I saw into the window, I actually gasped at all of the gorgeous gowns and felt so excited! I have never had an opportunity to do anything like that: to spend an afternoon playing dress up in beautiful, fancy things I've never imagined owning or wearing. The staff was incredibly helpful, encouraging and friendly. For an afternoon, I felt like a princess. I will definitely be paying it forward ASAP."
A dress donor wrote: "Just wanted to send a little love and gratitude your way. I was an Army wife for five years and had to miss a ball because we just didn't have the money to get me a dress. This is near to my heart! Hope this helps anyone. Love and Hooah."
Join L'eggs Hosiery in supporting Operation: Deploy Your Dress by:
- Gifting prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, or other formal gowns to the nonprofit, and letting others know about the opportunity.
- Using Amazon Smile with Operation: Deploy Your Dress designated as your charity of choice.
- Making a financial donation to or volunteering your time with Operation: Deploy Your Dress.
To learn more, visit OperationDeployYourDress.org.
About L’eggs®
One of the most recognized brands in America, L’eggs® is the leading legwear brand in food, drug and mass merchandisers. L’eggs® hosiery is available at Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, and Publix stores nationwide and online at One Hanes Place and Amazon. Connect with L’eggs® on social media on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LeggsBrand/ and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/leggsbrand/.
About Operation: Deploy Your Dress
Non-profit Operation: Deploy Your Dress operates 8 “shops” at Fort Bliss and Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Benning and Fort Stewart in Georgia, Fort Eustis in Virginia, Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, and Fort Irwin in California. Additionally, in an effort to help more military families in all branches of service, the group organizes a two-day "pop-up shop" in Washington, D.C. annually.
